The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister Jeffrey Lloyd said yesterday issues at the Black Point All-Age School are being addressed.

Mr Lloyd said it was “very unfortunate” the situation in Black Point was allowed to fester for so many years.

The school has received national attention after various concerns raised by residents of the community went viral on social media, prompting statements by both Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper and Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson.

Photos circulating on social media showed dilapidated faculty and student restrooms, overgrown grass and a library that appeared also to be used as a messy storage room.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Cooper said it was an outrage Black Point All-Age School remains in a state of disrepair five months after the start of the 2018-2019 academic year. He pinned blame for the issue on the Minnis administration’s decision to give oversight of school repairs to a new contractor who, despite giving assurances for more than four months, has not completed the work as contracted.

“I am trying to determine exactly why this has happened,” Mr Cooper said.

When made aware of Mr Cooper’s claims, Mrs Wilson said it was ridiculous that a politician would attempt to misrepresent the failures of his own party.

She insisted that it was she and other senior school staff who pressed both the past and present administration to address the issues at school.

“I am not interested in any comments that the PLP has made in reference to the Black Point All-Age School because the conditions were the same when the PLP was the government,” she pointed out.

Mrs Wilson said officials on both sides of the political divide have refused to address the matter.

“If there is blame to be placed, I’ll like to place blame squarely on the former minister, permanent secretary and director; and then also to place equal blame on the present minister, permanent secretary and acting director,” she told The Tribune on Sunday.

Addressing the controversy yesterday, Mr Lloyd told reporters that the issues highlighted were being addressed “as we speak”.

“It is being undertaken by our Deputy Permanent Secretary Donovan Turnquest and the team from the Ministry of Works,” he said.

Mrs Wilson on Sunday urged Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to place both the Ministry and Department of Education under a “microscopic view,” claiming that unskilled and misplaced personnel are presently stalling major advancements in the sector.

She ultimately called for restructuring of both units, claiming that it was the only way to guarantee Bahamian students “the best chance or opportunity to get a 21st century education so they could be productive citizens.”